Kathryne Arnold

about this book: The Resurrection of Hannah is the first in the Samantha Clark Mystery Series. It takes place in both St. Petersburg, a city on the west coast of Florida, and Gloucester, Massachusetts, a small town north of Boston, known for its artist colony and history of fishing, and one of the most favorite places I've lived. The whole of the book is inspired by true events, and follows the lives of the characters over a relatively short period of time, interweaving between both present day and 225 years ago, and changes the lives and the relationships of those involved in the events as they unfold. It's really about an ordinary person who becomes involved in an extraordinary event, and how little miracles occur to all of us and can at anytime, we just have to be open to these incredible possibilities in our lives, to trust that there are clues all around us pointing to everyday miracles.

The novel doesn't really fit into any particular genre, and both men and women appear to enjoy it equally. The Resurrection of Hannah does overlap into several different genres, but it tends to basically be a metaphysical mystery, an adventure with strong inspirational and historical elements. The book focuses on the importance of relationships in our lives, how they are always shifting, how they effect us in deep, fundamental ways, and mostly, when we lose loved ones, these relationships never die, they just change shape, we carry them with us. And even though The Resurrection of Hannah addresses serious issues in life, there are a lot of light and humorous times, and it was important to me to make sure that it was a fun and entertaining read.

What inspired me to write my first book took place over many months after much curiosity with alternative health practices and treatment modalities, which I was always interested in, especially since I work in one of the healing professions as a mental health therapist and hypnotherapist. I met with a group of counselors and nurses that met monthly who had a collective interest in talking about and experimenting with a myriad of subjects, such as meditation, hypnosis, dream interpretation, reincarnation, and the like. Our lives were becoming more intertwined and closer because of our group meetings and the intimacy of some of the topics we discussed, so that played into the book as well. Several of us were working at a Hospice at the time, so we talked a lot about practices used there, such as Reiki, aromatherapy, therapeutic touch. We talked a lot about our experiences at Hospice working with dying patients and their families, and I personally had a lot of existential questions, such as the meaning of suffering, what was our purpose here on earth, what about an afterlife, those sorts of things. I also frequented health food stores and started researching and using more herbs and supplements to help increase my energy level, improve my immune system and sleep, etc.

Well, all of these events and relationships seemed to come together at the same time in my life when all of a sudden I had my first overpowering, I guess you would call it a "dream" experience, which was way more than just a regular dream. It was very surreal, full of color, depth and texture, where I felt I was watching it at the same time I was experiencing it, what one would term an out-of-body experience. I couldn't ignore what had occurred because of its impact and intensity. I didn't know or understand what had happened, which sort of shocked me and pushed me into questioning even more about the "here and now", alternative levels of existence, the way energy manifests itself, and so on. I truly believe, and always will, that I was blessed to have had several extraordinary dream events and know that they happened for a reason, primarily I think to wake me up, to move me along, to help me better reach my potential.

So after all these events I mentioned occurred over a period of about 18 months, and upon the urgings of one of the group members to write a book, I just sat one day and began writing. Writing became significant to me in many ways, but I was able to build on my creativity, it was very therapeutic, sort of like journaling, something I could become totally absorbed in over a long period of time that was just mine. Until, of course, I decided to publish!